As readers of this publication know, fairly often I make mention of the facts that I’m f*cking old (my internal tree added its 76th ring a few months ago), and that I ain’t thrilled about being way closer to the end than to the beginning of my residency on Planet Earth. I’m not obsessed or anything like that with these thoughts, but they clearly are on my mind.
Still, the nature of my life isn’t all that different from what it was 25 or more years ago, except that I no longer work fulltime. I’m in decent shape and health, and I continue to pursue my interests: writing pieces for this website, for instance, and leaving the comfort of my abode to take in concerts, movies, art exhibitions, restaurant meals and the great outdoors pretty regularly. I’m damn lucky, overall. I have little to complain about.
That being said, I’m now about to lodge a major complaint, as there is one activity that annoys the crap out of me and puts me on edge. Consistently. Up until about 15 years ago it didn’t, which makes me think that becoming old as dirt has made me more sensitive to its challenges. Or maybe I simply reached an inevitable breaking point. Whatever, here’s what I’m referring to: driving my car.
There’s no such thing as a casual, pleasant drive anymore. Not for me, anyway, a guy whose nerves apparently are half-shot. I’m just fed up with the enormous number of vehicles out there, the roadwork projects and lane closures you’re destined to run into most days, and the tricky situations you constantly have to navigate. Not to mention the assholes running red lights, tailgating, and blithely turning in front of oncoming traffic. Basically, me no like!
Hell, even on my quiet neighborhood’s residential blocks (I live in Willow Grove, a town near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA), it’s a miracle when a delivery truck or other vehicle isn’t partially or fully blocking my way, or when my view of potential cross-traffic at intersections isn’t obscured by cars parked head-to-toe along the curbs. If I resided in Philadelphia or some other city with a good public transportation system, I could make do without a car. Here in the burbs, though, I need one. So, I grit my teeth and keep my fingers crossed when behind the wheel.
The other day was a classic, driving-wise, and not in a good sense. There I was, in late afternoon, hoping to make a right turn out of my neighborhood onto Old York Road, a major corridor. My destination? A supermarket about three-quarters of a mile from my house. Holy shit! I couldn’t turn, because traffic was backed up for 500 or more feet on Old York, the result, undoubtedly, of a train sitting at, or approaching or leaving the Willow Grove train station (I wasn’t able to make out exactly what was going on). After what seemed like forever, I nudged my way into a long line of cars on Old York. And several minutes later, the vehicles in front of me finally able to inch along, I reached and crossed the railroad tracks. At last, the supermarket was almost within shouting distance. Hallelujah!
What made the afternoon extra special is that I became enmeshed in a similar situation on the way home from the market. As I neared the train tracks, the gates that descend when a train is approaching did their thing. Down they went, the red lights attached to them flashing. A train eventually pulled into the station and eventually continued on its way. And eventually I arrived home. Man, I could have made the trips to and from the supermarket faster on foot than in my car, a laughable and pathetic truth.
Okay, rant over. In memory of the days when driving commonly was fun for me, I’ll leave you with a smoker from Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down A Dream, which was released in 1989. The recording, as potent as freedom, almost is enough to convince me that carefree driving experiences might come my way once again. Here’s hoping.
Yeah, Another Blogger 
Yeah–driving is scarier these days. Driving is an activity that has always unnerved me, but I find myself liking it even less.
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Hi Cecilia. It’s (potentially) dangerous out there, for sure. It won’t be getting any better.
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Neil, there isn’t much that gets me riled up on the roads; I’ve just come to expect that just about anything is possible, but tailgaters make me homicidal. Like why do you need to be sniffing my tailpipe, asshole? I was on the Coquihalla highway, a four-lane highway that runs through the mountains outside of Vancouver, BC. It’s awesome because you can stay in the slow lane, mind your business and let everyone speed by you. The last time I was on it, a guy was right on my bumper. I was thinking, dude, pass me, there’s a whole lane over there. It was quiet, so there was not much traffic. I began to slow down so he would pass, and he just continued sticking to my ass. It was so weird. I had to slow down to 70 kilometres an hour to get him to pass me FINALLY. The speed limit up there is 120! The world is full of people who make you go, hmm. 🤷🏻♀️
Also, happy belated birthday! 😭
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You reminded me of something from 40 or more years ago. I was driving at night in the right-hand lane of the New Jersey Turnpike, which is a major highway. It’s a three-lane turnpike, in each direction. A huge Greyhound bus was tailgating me. It was very unnerving. And I wasn’t driving below the speed limit.
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Dear god, that’s terrifying. It must have rattled you to remember it all these years later. Wow.
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Belated wishes on your recent birthday.
I understand your thoughts on aging. I don’t obsess either but still it’s there every day, staring me in the face, and knowing I have less days than I used to is sobering. As for traffic, well, I think its frustrations are everywhere. There’s much more of it here in the small town where I live in NC. It can be frustrating, that’s for sure.
When I was in my twenties I lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the most fun I ever had was just driving through the hills and vales and sometimes on the Blue Ridge Parkways. Sheer heaven. I would hate to think that traffic has invaded even those peaceful old roads. Perhaps I’ll just keep them in my memory where they are undisturbed.
Put some Tom Petty on and just rock out. Peace.
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I suppose there are areas where traffic is mild and people don’t drive obnoxiously. But those areas probably are few and far between.
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I am also 76 and share your state of mind. Thank goodness I no longer commute roundtrip to work on weekdays as I did for many decades.
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Hi Geoff. Commuting roundtrip by car is a drag. People get used to it, sort of. But it’s not exactly a wonderful way to spend one’s time.
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When I lived in Bangalore in India, we had an ongoing work joke about “Working from Traffic” bc that’s what we all did…spend hours and hours trying to get to work and back. And no one dared to make Fri evening plans 🙂
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Hi. Traffic is bad all over the world. What a mess we humans have created!
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Sorry about all the train traffic. I guess you can only be grateful it wasn’t the George Washington Bridge (THE worst swath of driving in ALL of America for my money). If it had been the GeoWash, you’d still be in one of its 1,002 lanes with your ice cream and (once)frozen peas swimming over your ankles. Mass transit is an excellent solution, but then how you gonna get those four bags of groceries home? Ah life… Congrats on your new year on the planet. May it be a JOY!
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Ah yes, the GW Bridge. Not only is the bridge often a nightmare, the entire surrounding area often is too. We use the GWB going to and coming from Cape Cod. So much traffic!
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You’re either braver than I am or a total glutton for punishment. After a number of harrowing adventures on the GeoWash, I switched to a longer but more peaceful route to visit my daughter in Jersey.
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Amen! Part of it, I’m sure, is that after many years on the planet, it gets harder to put up with all the crap. But I think another part of it is that after the pandemic, the roads just seem lawless.
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Even very short drives these days usually are problematic.
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I love to drive but these days every time I get behind the wheel of a car I wonder what I’m going to encounter, and it’s not always a good thing. This however is a Great song! Be careful out there.
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Hi. Petty And The Heartbreakers recorded a ton of great songs. This one is up there with their best, I think.
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Hello blogger, I enjoyed reading your post. I subscribed. See you often. Have a happy and bright day. ^^*
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I hear you, Neil, and agree. Driving isn’t fun anymore.
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Yeah, we grin and bear it. What else can we do? Thanks for stopping by, Michele. See ya!
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Yep. I hear ya. I’m 70 and sold my car about a year ago as driving was getting me stressed out. The UK is way more pedestrian friendly than the US (I’ve only ever been to LA & Seattle but neither were pedestrian friendly as I recall) and most things are within walking distance. I use bus / taxi / train etc as required and I still have the option to hire a car if ever I really need one. No regrets.
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Hi there, and thanks for adding your thoughts. You’ve probably increased your happiness quotient by removing the stress that driving induces.
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Alas, Neil, I think for driving freedom, you need to fly out to Wyoming or some such wide open spaces. I also used to love to drive but no longer do.
A name drop: We had a relative with a connection to Bob Dylan. Some years back (may have been 1989), we were given free tickets to a Dylan concert. The opening act: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I don’t remember hearing this song before, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t experience it in person…maybe.
PS: I’m not sure I’m getting announcements of your posts. If you don’t hear from me by a few days after you’ve put one up, that’s why. I must remember to check Reader.
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Hello there. Do you remember The Traveling Wilburys? They made two albums but never performed live. Petty, Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne comprised the group.
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Hello blogger, I enjoyed reading your post. I subscribed. See you often. Have a happy and bright day.^^*
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I loved the Traveling Wilburys (noted in an earlier comment)! I live in a tiny mountain town and always used to enjoy going down to Denver for a city fix, but yes, the traffic is a bit much. I try to take the back roads instead of the highways, less stressful.
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The less stress, the better!
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I will confess that yours was my attitude every time I ever drove anywhere in the northeast, even 40 years ago. And Chicago has never been any better. But I am noticing that Indianapolis has gotten worse.
My peeve is people who think a green light is like a starters pistol, so that the first one to get to the intersection gets to do what they want, even if it’s a left turn in front of oncoming traffic.
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There are constant instances of speeding, dangerous turns, etc. Yet, you don’t see many drivers pulled over by Police. Not in my region, anyway.
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I am entering the 5 decade of my life , driving for over 30 years and still enjoying it but more and more annoyed by people rudeness behind the steering wheel. It drives me crazy as much as those who don’t understand su are when turning or doing at the very last minute🙄
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Hi, and thanks for stopping by. There are a lot of careless people and unconcerned people in the world. When they are driving, they make things bad for other drivers.
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Indeed!
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I think it’s time to leave the burbs. There are lots of open spaces for nice drives, just farther out or maybe in another state 😉
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Hi. I’m into the things that a good city has: music, museums, restaurants, etc. That’s why I live near Philadelphia. So, a semi-rural area wouldn’t be for me. Thanks for adding your thoughts. Take care.
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Traffic, traffic, traffic…I live in a slightly rural area near a big city (Richmond, VA), and I can’t believe how much things have changed. Some for the better. I mean, it’s nice to have money to get a dumpster rental and renovate my house a bit and I do attribute some of that to new business coming in. But I do miss the simple times of just being able to drive for hours without hitting the bumper to bumper grind I thought used to only exist in Los Angeles.
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Hello, Cynthia. Thanks for adding your thoughts. Traffic is bad just about everywhere these days, it seems. Driving no longer is fun!
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My wife and I lived in Bucks County many years ago when we first got married. The traffic in the area you describe was a challenge then…so I have no doubt at all it has “escalated.” We have been in Chester County for most of our years, and here the equation was simple…when you build a ton of housing and no roads…yes, you now have a serious traffic problem as well. And of course, it’s not just the volume but the “quality” of the drivers.🙂
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Being on the road is no fun. I frequently run into tricky situations just trying to get out of my neighborhood, and I bet you do too.
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